Carnival Sensation and Hurricane Issac

[twoofthem]

Here is my very first review. I took my just turned 13yo daughter on a cruise for her bday. We decided on a 4 night cruise on the Sensation leaving Aug 26th.

 

Here are the pictures:

 

Early Wed we arrived at the Lorton Auto Train station to get on the list for rooms and headed out to spend the day at the zoo. We arrived back to board our train at 2:30, enjoyed dinner and went to bed. Our train was late getting in and I was glad we took advice of CC to take an earlier train. We spent a few extra days in Orlando with the kids and waited for my husband to arrive in Orlando Sat morning.

 

Early Sunday we were packed and ready to go. We drove to Port Canaveral from Orlando and to the cruise ship drop off. We found getting to the ship and drop off pretty easy. My husband was allowed to pull over, park and walk with us to the line to say good bye. The first line to get in the building was semi-long and split in two. The line moved quickly, was organized and the Carnival employees seemed happy and engaged with those standing in line. After a short wait we made it inside to the metal detectors. I informed them I had a bottle of wine in my carry on and 3 bottles of coke. I asked if I should take it out and was told no. Made it through the metal detectors just fine and no checked the bottles I brought in. We made our way up stairs.. my daughter was getting more and more excited. Another long line to check in but again it moved fairly quickly. We were told at this time that there was an itinerary change because of Issac. Check in was smooth, handed our sign and sail, took our cheesy photo and on board we went. We both used our bc and we seemed to get through check in as quickly as everyone else.

 

On board we get our first view of the atrium. Purple was the name of the game, though I didn't find it was over the top as I was expecting. We head up to the lido, grab my very first drink of the day. Find a nice little spot outside and enjoy the first of many meals we will have over our next four nights. We head to our cabin, M23 a porthole, which was ready when we arrived. We met our room steward who was very attentive the entire trip and greeted us by name every time we saw her. She kept our room clean, towel animals were appreciated each night by my daughter. One time my daughter left clothes on the floor, we come back to the room to find our steward had not only picked them up but folded them as well.

 

We are called to our muster station where we are told how to save ourselves. This went smoothly and quickly but did take place during sail away. I got a text from my husband that they were at the pier. My kids were bummed we didn't get to wave to them as we pulled away. But they recovered quickly and I was soon sent a text of them enjoying a virgin pina colada at the beach. All was good. We head back to our room to find two of our three bags. The one bag missing is the one with my mad stash of smuggled rum. I found the pull of being a card carrying smuggler very alluring so the challenge was accepted. I have no excuse as to justify smuggling..I'm not drink picky, I don't enjoy a drink when getting ready, sitting on the balcondy or what ever other varation there is. I just wanted to do it :) I had acquired the bladder of a box of joe, added some kraken, two ziplocks and packed it with nothing else. When we saw that the bag was missing I was sure I was bound to get "the" letter. We put our door decorations up (a big pink sign asking people to wish my daughter a happy bday) leave, small tour of the ship and we come back to get dressed for dinner. Ah..the bag has arrived.. with smuggled rum! Succses!

 

We choose My Time Dinning which I found ok. We did like the freedom of going when we wished but I found the waiters to be unhappy. We didn't wait more than 5ish mins at any one time to be sat, even when the line was around the atrium. They seemed tired, over worked and put off. They forgot stuff multiple times and never had a smile. Food was good though. My daughter was very happy to order how ever much she wanted. My only request to her was not to waste too much food. She didn't..good girl. She very much enjoyed the escargot and was bummed it wasn't on the menu more than once. We had bfast in the MDR every morning but one. Again, food was good.

 

Off to bed.. because of the storm the seas were rough. Walking up the stairs was a challenge even with out a lot of drinks of the day in me. Rough seas were fun, we both enjoyed it. We kinda missed it once we sailed out of the storm. Because of the storm sea day was first as we sailed toward Nassau. It was VERY windy and because of this all decks above the Lido were closed, chairs tied down etc. Sea day was cold and rainy but it didn't damper our fun. The pool was closed for a while as were the hot tubs. The water in the pool was rockin and sloshing all over the place. We spent our time roaming the ship, playing games in the library and took a nice nap. We missed tea time which stunk because we both wanted to do it.. guess that means we should plan our next cruise soon?? Because it was sea day it was elegant night and got all girly and dressed up in our fancy stuff. I was a little put of with some of the attire of others, I just think the jeans where tacky. But oh well, we liked getting dressed up and attempting to walk in heels on a ship that's 'amovin. Dinner was lovely, we both had two orders of Maine lobster and of course, chocolate melting cake.

 

Wake up! Nassau here we come. Getting off the ship was pretty easy.. not two seconds through the cute little building with tourist cack to buy are we were met with the infamous hair braiders. Guess what cute little 13yo is still sporting 'em :) We really didn't have solid plans for the day. We opted for a buggy ride and enjoyed the little tour we got and information that went along with it, for 20 bucks it wasn't bad. We walked around, got a real coffee at Starbucks.. may I just say that coffee on the ship is the most disgusting thing I have ever had. We headed to Junkanoo beach. The beach was fine, we enjoyed the little shack where my daughter had a fresh coconut and I had a few adult beverages. The beach had a lot of local kids running around and jumping off the pier. I didn't find it too crowded though there was some glass in the sand we had to watch out for, that was the biggest downfall I'd say. Only once did someone come around trying to sell knock off Cuban cigars. A few hours in we decide to walk around the shops, get a Kalik and check things out. We found a little ally with a small food/bar shack. It seemed a little out of the way and only locals. It was in the shade and a nice little break from the sun. We picked up a few bottles of rum for friends and back to the ship for lunch. Again through security and no one seemed the slightest bit concerned about what we brought back in. I very easily could have taken the rum back to my room. My daughter had a half bottle of water and no checked that it was in fact just water. It would have been very easy to bring something back on the ship. We headed up to the lido and ate at the Mongolian Wok and that was very very good. Fresh, tasty and lots of it. Off the ship again, more walking around and people watching. Checked out the straw market for all of 30 seconds.. that was enough of that. We tasted some rum cake which was good and headed to the grocery store. We picked up some things there to take back as gifts. My daughter found it interesting how different it was and yet how much it was Americanized at the same time.

 

We decided it might be fun to see if we could see any pier runners.. We were docked beside the Disney Magic and we heard many calls for certain passengers to come to guest relations. They were getting ready to pull the gang plank and a man made a dash for it before they pulled it. The Magic pulls out and here comes this rather large family six I'd say. They are just strolling a long and the little boy is running ahead and you can hear him yelling back to him mom that the ship is gone. They all pick up the pace and that's when it hits them.. no ship. The little girl wails and panic ensues. The ship was really gone, steaming away.. We felt bad for them and watched as they found someone on the pier to help them out. Please be back to your ship on time!

 

Our last day was Freeport. I thought Freeport was fine but there really isn't a lot to do. We decided on going to Paradise Cove. I have mixed feelings on it, first of all they shuttle left us and another family waiting, they left 20 min earlier than they said and thus we lost over 30m of time. The place itself was nice, snorkeling was nice and for $35 each I really can't complain. I would do it again if we go back. When we got back to the port we hung out, listened to some music and enjoyed our last day in the sun before getting back on the ship. This time there were no pier runners.

 

Our last night was very busy. My daughter wanted to catch another show and see the two comedy acts. This is where anytime dinning paid off. We were one of the first seated and left in time for the 7pm comedy show, which was very good and not crowded at all. Quick to the other side of the ship for the show and back again for the last comedy show. Our cruise was nearing the end :(. We packed, put our bags out and had a late night just enjoyed the ship and each others company.

 

We arrived Thursday morning and were zone 11. We had a relaxed morning with bfast in the MDR before we found a lounge chair on the lido to wait our turn to be called. Getting our bags was easy and fast.. customs..not so much.

 

Over all we enjoyed our cruise. I know the Sensation has had some mixed reviews. The ship was clean, lines were not bad at all, the decor was not too over the top. The crew was enjoyable and I thought they adapted well to the change in itinerary. The coffee sucked and the little coffee shop coffee was passable. The entertainment was good and met our needs. The ship may be small but we were never bored and also, never lost. The food was very good, the selection was pretty good for the most part. Pizza was ok, deli sandwiches were nice and room service was good and prompt. I bought a fair amount of drinks and while they were pricey it wasn't too bad. They were tasty and when someone makes a drink..well..it's always somehow better.

 

I would not think twice about going back on the Sensation. We are planning on a family cruise next year and if we find ourselves on that ship we will be happy to do it again.

[Ducktape003]

Great review! Sounds like you had a very special trip with you DD.

 

Thanks for the review!